What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? is quite simply one of the best guitar-driven alternative rock songs I’ve ever heard. There is something hypnotic about its sustained guitar sound and bursts of reverb. It almost feels like an engine idling throughout the entire track. To me, it captures exactly what a great guitar tone should sound like. The volume is never loud enough for this song.
I can’t get enough of it. It’s easily my favourite R.E.M. song. I can happily play it on repeat for ages, and I certainly have on more than one occasion. It’s a masterclass in restraint, taste, and atmosphere, proving that a band doesn’t need to overplay to create something powerful.
R.E.M. rightly earned enormous respect for their influence on alternative rock. By the early 1990s, bands such as Nirvana, the Pixies, and Pavement had acknowledged them as pioneers of the genre. They disbanded amicably in 2011 after selling more than 90 million records worldwide, leaving behind one of the most influential catalogues in modern rock.
Snippets from Wikipedia:
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” is from their ninth studio album, Monster (1994). The song’s title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986 in which two assailants attacked journalist Dan Rather while repeating “Kenneth, what is the frequency?”
The song was the first single taken from the album and was released by Warner Bros. Records on September 5, 1994. It peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard. Internationally, the song reached number two in Canada, number four in New Zealand, and number nine on the UK Singles Chart.
The song was one of the band’s most-played songs at live gigs, and was played at every show on their 2008 Accelerate tour.
[Verse 1]
“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
I thought I’d pegged you an idiot’s dream
Tunnel vision from the outsider’s screen
[Chorus]
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
[Verse 2]
I’d studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines
Richard said, “Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy”
A smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
[Chorus]
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
[Verse 3]
“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
Butterfly decal, rear-view mirror, dogging the scene
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
[Chorus]
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
I couldn’t understand
You said that irony was the shackles of youth, uh-huh
I couldn’t understand
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I couldn’t understand
I never understood, don’t fuck with me, uh-huh
References:
1. What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Matt, you’ve got it exactly right. That hypnotic sound. That engine idling. The way it doesn’t need to be loud because it’s already in your head. R.E.M. knew something. They knew that you don’t have to overplay to be powerful. You just have to know what you’re doing. And they did.
“I never understood the frequency.” Neither did most people. But they felt it. And that’s all that mattered.
My all time favourite band. And a great tune
so classic…